The well-deserved winner of this year's Wex Photographer of the Year award is Neil Burnell, a photographer from South West England. His clean and minimalist style is indicative of a keen eye and shows off his past experience as a graphic designer.

In second and third place respectively were Tony Sellen and Tom Lowe.

Press release:

• Annual photography competition received more than 17,000 entries throughout its third year

• Winning entries will feature in an exhibition at London’s Truman Brewery from today

• Neil Burnell from South West England announced as 2016 winner

Wex Photographic is delighted to announce the winners of its annual Wex Photographer of the Year competition. The culmination of a year’s worth of weekly #WexMondays contests, the winning photographs represent the cream of UK enthusiast talent. They will be on display at London’s Truman Brewery from today until Monday 23rd January 2017.

Now entering its fourth year, the competition received more than 17,000 entries in 2016. Each week, photographers enter their best shot from the previous seven days, using the #WexMondays hashtag on Twitter. The best of the week are selected and awarded points by Wex Photographic’s expert panel to create a league table, which is hotly contested throughout the year. The result, at the end of the year, is a series of breathtaking images from a range of subjects and locations.

The images on display are the winners from all 51 weeks of the 2016 competition. Amassing the most points throughout the year, including four top spots, the winning photographer is:

Neil Burnell from South West England

Neil was a first-time entrant to the competition in 2016 and has a total of four images on display. His favoured subject is landscape photography from the coast near his home, where he says he will “often shoot long-exposure mono and muted colour to create stylised images with atmosphere.” Macro photography is also a passion and his super-close-up shot of a spider was the clear winner in Week 25. Neil shoots on two Nikon DSLRs, a D810 and D7200.

Commenting on Neil’s work, Wex’s Technical Editor Matt Higgs said: “With a careful eye for composition, Neil’s clean and modern approach to photography shone throughout his submissions, regularly winning the admiration of the judges. Often breaking scenes down to their most essential elements, his minimalist creations thrived in their simplicity and technical perfection.”

The year’s runners up are:

2nd Place: Tony Sellen from London, who shoots on a Nikon D600 and D7000

Louis Wahl, Chief Customer Officer at Wex Photographic said: “We are so proud of this competition, and to see it grow in popularity over the years has been a real treat. Because people can enter for as many weeks as they like throughout the year, the winning selection of images represents a true cross-section of the UK’s photography talent, with a vast array of subjects. We hope the public enjoy the exhibition as much as we have enjoyed seeing the images come in all year.”

The winning photographer receives £1,500 of Wex Photographic vouchers, with other prizes awarded on the night to runners-up.

Wex is a company with a passion for photography at its core, committed to delivering a comprehensive, first-class service to photographers and filmmakers of all skill levels.